A short survey for readers…

I’ve already posted this on Facebook and I’m getting some great replies. It is completely anonymous. I’m going to repost here and a few other places. It only takes a few moments to fill out. I appreciate all your responses!

Be careful about how much personal/political information you reveal. I’ve stopped buying books by at least one author because her views were so at odds with my own.

I also stop reading blogs by authors who use their journals to whine about how difficult writing (or publishing or life in general)is.

On the other hand, I’ve recently purchased books by an author I had been avoiding solely because of her blog. She writes about things she is interested in -including her work – without being too detailed about any one thing.

I hope some of this helps. In my opinion blogs are like any other form of entertainment. Some people are going to like what you do, some aren’t. As long as you remember that what you are writing is for public consumption, not personal indulgence, you’ll most likely be successful at it.

Thanks so much for your detailed response, Blue. I do avoid the political in my blog posts. In my novels, I would say I have a political perspective rather than an agenda (a perspective is unavoidable considering that I write about things that have a political bearing). But I always try to keep an open mind and consider that even those opinions I disagree with can have validity or at the very least a causal root that can make an extreme position seem understandable. I’ve been thinking about these issues a lot as I’m working on the sequel which has to do with Americans who hold what most would consider to be extremist views.